Frances
Gertrude Price was born at Stockton, CA on June 9, 1895,
and came to Carson City at an early age. When quite young,
her mother died and Frances was raised as a member of the
family of then Governor R.K. Colcord. She received her early
education in the schools of California, Oregon, and Nevada
and later attended the University of Nevada.

She
married George W. Friedhoff in 1912 and moved to Yerington
where her husband was active in the construction business
and operated several ranch properties. They had one son,
George, Jr., who also attended the University of Nevada
and then returned to live in Yerington.

Her
public activities were numerous. For the entire duration
of World War I, Frances served upon the Council of Defense,
Red Cross and as secretary of the Lyon County Four Minute
Men.

Friedhoff
represented agriculture and home economics upon the State
Board of Vocational Education for twelve years. In 1921,
she was appointed by President Harding as representative
from Nevada and one of the sixteen women appointed throughout
the United States to attend the Agricultural Conference
called by the President to be held in Washington, DC.

In
1924 she was elected as a delegate from Nevada to the National
Democratic Party convention in New York. From 1924 to 1928
she served as democratic national committeewoman for Nevada.

Frances
was elected the first State President of the Home Makers'
Clubs of the Nevada State Farm Bureau, serving for two years
and in 1928 was a member of the State Advisory Board for
that organization. Later she was a member of the National
Speakers' Bureau of the American Farm Bureau Federation,
and attended several National Conventions.

She
was a charter member of the American Legion Auxiliary, Lyon
County Unit #9, serving the local unit and department in
every capacity.

Friedhoff
served many stations during her years of membership in the
Order of Eastern Star, culminating in her election as Worthy
Grand Matron in June, 1928. She later made some observations
regarding that year of service:

"...I
have a picture which time can never dim, of smiling
friendly faces, of wonderful courtesies extended, of
work well done, of friendships formed...In the past
years since my illness, many people have asked me if
it were worth all the effort I had put into it. Yes,
I feel it was indeed worth the price I paid - not because
of the plaudits of the multitudes but for the deep down
inside me satisfaction of knowing that I had given of
my best at all times. One can never expect for long
gratitude and appreciation from the outside to compensate
oneself for the things they do for organizational work,
for time will inevitably dim the public's memories,
new people will step in to take the place of old friends
and one is bound sooner or later to find oneself on
the outside looking in. It is only by counting your
pearls of precious memories that one can gain comfort
and satisfaction from public work.

"I
have truly found it is never what one gets out of an
organization but what one puts into it that really counts.
If one puts in their best, then and then only can there
be no regrets when day is done and one faces the setting
of their sun."

In
March, 1935, Frances' husband, in his third term as a State
Senator representing Lyon County, resigned his position
to accept a federal appointment as Nevada's Federal Housing
Administrator. The following week, the Lyon County Commission
appointed Frances to succeed him in his Senate post and
she was sworn in on March 16 as the first woman to serve
in the State Senate.

A
March 22 article in the Mason Valley News stated: "The
list of ladies who have been elected to the Nevada Assembly
and who have made fine records in that legislative body
is quite long...It will be up to Mrs. Friedhoff to prove
that a woman can be every bit as good a Senator as a man
- and she will."

Her
particular interest that session was in the advancement
and betterment of rural schools. On being asked her stand
on the pending assembly bill regarding the state assuming
the medical and financial care of expectant mothers, she
stated she favored any legislation which was beneficial
to the welfare of womanhood. She would not state definitely
her stand on any pending measures, but promised to act as
much as possible in the way the people would have had her
husband act.

It
should be noted that during that session of the Legislature,
two women were serving in the Assembly: Mrs. Hazel Wines
of Humboldt County and Mrs. Glenn E. Grier of White Pine
County. Friedhoff became a semi-invalid in her later years
which stopped her public appearances, but her Red Cross
record in World War II showed that "many hours were
spent working to be of use to the world."

Frances
Gertrude Friedhoff died on March 8, 1958 in Reno and was
buried in the Masonic section of Mountain View cemetery.

Biographical
sketch by Jean Ford

Sources
of Information:

Curran,
Evalin, comp., History of the Order of Eastern Star,
State of Nevada, 1949.